Mac Mondays: Macs and their limited I/O

As a network/security engineer, it amazes me that laptop makers, PC or Mac, would do away with the serial port. I once was given a company laptop with had a LPT port, but no serial! Who still uses that 25 pin monster?? Ever since they started integrating Ethernet and wireless into laptops, I have not used the PC card. And infrared is a joke. There are USB 5.1 speaker systems out there that work the same as digital out… my receiver in my theater has a USB connection. Okay… enough with the geek ramblings… have to got get more coffee now.

Yup, short changed on a lot of stuff…

Despite the fact that you can buy a USB serial port, or a USB IRDA device?

Who the hell uses ps/2 for anything?

If Apple drop firewire on the low end devices, I will be gutted, but I can see the reason why… FireWire will probably still exist on the PowerMacs, and PowerBooks. FireWire is usually found on pro video editing and shooting devices like HD Dv Cams.

USB 2 is a good move for iPods, it makes packaging cables for multi platforms easier, and cheaper.

Whats wrong with the mini-vga? it has a full size vga dongle… I personally would like to move all my PC equipment off VGA and DVI and over to HDMI…

The point is, how many ports do you actually need on a laptop? and how many USERS, not PRO USERS, actually want legacy ports like serial and ps/2?

Well as a non pro user i would regrett to see new macs with NO Firewire port . I can understand FW 800 wouldn’t be needed on iMacs or iBooks but Firewire 400 has been along that long on Macs that evn non pro users have FW hardware (external drive’s , older iPod , iSight – let’s not forget slave mode & ethernet using FW). A pro user would have prolly lesser problems upgrading all his FW to USB 2, for a home user this can be a very expensive solution.

So Apple please keep atleast one firewire 400 port on the new imac & iBook

Firewire is a neccesity for me as I have already stated. I use it for everything I originally went to Mac because of the native firewire support.

I hate desktops and love taking my life with me literally everywhere. I hate, however, carrying dongles, patches and converters in my bag to be able to connect to these legacy devices.

LPT and PS/2 i understand but sometimes an IRDA or serial port would be nice.

I can only say, that I hate Apple for their move to USB on their iPod line… 70% of all users over at the german Mac community macuser.de who have connectivity problems of some sort with their iPods are helped by using firewire. I can not understand why Apple abandons Firewire now, afterall they have been promoting it for years, and I have actually come to like it, after swearing at my 1st Generation iPod for not supporting USB… I have not regretted buying the $15 firewire PCI card for my Windows PC (I didn’t have a Mac until a couple weeks later, and I’m still using my Win machine for a few programs every once in a while, or to format my iPod so I can plug it into my friends’ computers…)

Please Apple, DO NOT abandon Firewire!!